Charged with murder

The U.S. Code defines murder as "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought." This Code separates murder into two categories: murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree. Murder may be charged as the lesser offense of manslaughter.

If charged with murder, the degree of seriousness is dependent upon the mindset of the person who committed the act resulting in death. Murder in the first degree includes every murder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing. Murder in the first degree also includes killings committed in the perpetration, or the attempted perpetration of any arson, escape, kidnapping, treason, espionage, sabotage, sexual abuse, burglary, or robbery. All other murders are considered murder in the second degree. So if the killer lacked malice or did not premeditate his act, he is guilty of a lesser degree or may be guilty of manslaughter.

An accidental killing may be prosecuted as murder if the act causing death was done with a reckless disregard for the safety of others. A drunk driver who causes a traffic accident resulting in death can be prosecuted for manslaughter.

Depending on varying state criminal laws, those guilty of murder in the first degree may be sentenced to life in prison or death, and those guilty of second degree murder can be imprisoned for any amount of years or life.

Defense to murder

A common defense to murder is self-defense. That is, the defendant was forced to kill to save his own life. However, most state requires that the force actually used to kill the other by the defendant was not more then the force reasonably necessary to fend off the actual threat of death. A common mitigating defense to Murder is that the defendant did not act with intent to kill. Most often this means that the death was an accident or an act of ordinary carelessness. Another mitigating defense is sometimes called diminished capacity or killing in the heat of passion. This defense often attempts to prove that the defendant acted in the heat of passion such that he could not reasonably control his actions under the circumstances.

Drug charges

If you face drug charges, this type of crime can be very serious. The law prohibits the possession of controlled substances unless prescribed by a physician. Controlled substances include drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines and cocaine. There are also a number of prescription drugs that are illegal if possessed without the benefit of a prescription.

The sale, delivery, manufacturing, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance is a serious felony which can result in a lengthy prison term and a substantial fine.

Possession of even the smallest amount of some drugs, like cocaine, can result in a conviction and a possible jail sentence.

Narcotics cases are commonly prosecuted under one of three ways. Either simple possession, possession with intent to sell, and sales or transportation.

Sometimes when a person is arrested on drug charges, the police will confiscate a car, home, or other property regardless of whether the owner is the same person in possession of the drug. The owner must then file a claim for the return of the property. The time limits for filing such a claim are short and strictly enforced. Usually, drugs are found as a result of a police search. Therefore, a central issue with drug offenses is usually whether proper legal procedures were followed.